It’s not the holidays around here without homemade panforte. Although I’ve never met a panforte I didn’t like, I like mine best. It’s moderate on the spicing and heavy on the toasted nuts. Plus dried figs, honey, cocoa, aniseed. Oh, yum. Back in the day when we had dinner guests, I would put thin slices on the cheese board with a mellow, creamy blue (above: Fourme d’Ambert) and open a sweet wine. This year at my house, it’s panforte for two, but that won’t be a problem.
Steve Jones | Cheese Bar, Portland OR
On a sadder note: It was a shock to learn that two of America’s leading cheese retailers are closing their doors. Cheese Bar in Portland and Mission Cheese in San Francisco are calling it quits, largely due to a pandemic-related decline in business. Both Steve Jones of Cheese Bar and Sarah Dvorak of Mission Cheese are among the most respected, creative, influential and knowledgeable retailers in the artisan cheese world. Jones was the second winner of the Cheesemonger Invitational and a merchant whose case was always filled with treasures, especially from the Pacific Northwest. I recall meeting Dvorak when she was about to open her shop/restaurant a decade ago. I thought her plan to focus exclusively on American cheeses was cuckoo, but she created such a welcoming community around cheese, with so many fun and original events, that the concept clicked. For fine-cheese enthusiasts in Portland and San Francisco, these closures are big losses. I’m hoping they’re not a sign of what lies ahead. Mission Cheese will close at the end of this year and Cheese Bar on January 24.
Panforte My Way
Adapted from The Cheese Course by Janet Fletcher (Chronicle Books).
1 cup hazelnuts
1 cup unskinned almonds
2/3 cup sifted unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoon sifted unsweetened cocoa
2 teaspoons aniseed, lightly crushed in a mortar or spice grinder
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Grated zest of 1 orange
8 ounces dried Mission figs, thinly sliced (about 1-1/2 cups)
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup honey
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Toast the hazelnuts and almonds (together, if you like) on a rimmed baking sheet until fragrant and lightly colored inside, about 15 minutes. Let cool, then chop very coarsely. Reduce the oven temperature to 300°F.
Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom or a 9-inch cake pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper and butter the parchment.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, aniseed, cinnamon, cloves and orange zest. Add the nuts and figs and stir to coat.
In a small saucepan, heat the sugar and honey over low heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Raise the heat to medium and cook without stirring until the mixture reaches 245°F on a candy thermometer, 2 to 3 minutes. Immediately pour over the nut mixture. Working quickly, stir until all the dry ingredients are coated; the mixture will be very stiff. Transfer to the prepared pan, spreading it evenly with a wooden spoon dipped in cold water.
Bake for 40 minutes. The panforte will still be tacky on top. Cool completely on a rack, then remove from the pan and remove the parchment paper.
Slice into 16 to 20 thin wedges.